New Delhi

 In a significant move to enhance passengers’ safety and train operation efficiency, the Indian Railways has successfully completed field trials of the upgraded Kavach Version 4.0 between Bamrauli and Athsarai in Uttar Pradesh.

Major Upgrades To Enhance Safety:

“Kavach 4.0 introduces key upgrades including higher location accuracy, enhanced signal information for large yards, station-to-station communication over Optical Fiber Cable (OFC), and direct integration with Electronic Interlocking systems. These enhancements aim to improve safety and operational efficiency,” the official pointed out.

It marks a major step forward for railways’ indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system and paves the way for its wider deployment across the country, the railway official added.

The trials were a part of the Railway ministry’s flagship “Mission Raftar Project” under which the railways is increasing safety measures apart from improving train speeds.

Talking about it, a railway official informed that the trials were conducted over a 7-day period, using a WAP-7 locomotive fitted with the Kavach system, and LHB rake certified for a speed of 130 kmph. The trials included both preliminary evaluations and comprehensive testing under the close supervision of the Independent Safety Assessment (ISA) and the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO).

What Is Kavach?

Kavach is a system that aids the Loco Pilot in maintaining specified speed limits. It does so by automatic application of brakes in case the Loco Pilot fails to and also helps the trains run safely in inclement weather.

Kavach Implementation:

A project for equipping 10,000 locomotives has been finalized, with 69 loco sheds prepared for equipping locomotives with Kavach.

Bids for track side Works of Kavach for about 15,000 Route Kilometres (RKm) have been invited covering all GQ, GD, HDN and identified sections of railways, out of which 1865 RKm have been awarded contracts, as per Lok Sabha data.

Fund For Kavach:

So far, Rs. 1950 crore have been utilized for Kavach and for the year 2024-2025, Rs. 1112.57 crores have been allocated for the same. Requisite funds, according to the Lok Sabha information, are made available as per the progress of works.

The first field trials on the passenger trains were done in February 2016. Following this, based on the experience gained and Independent Safety Assessment of the system by Independent Safety Assessor (ISA), three firms were approved in 2018-19, for the supply of Kavach Version 3.2.

Kavach 4.0:

Kavach 4.0 was approved by RDSO on July 16, 2024 and it encompasses all the major features required for the diverse Indian railway network, making it a significant milestone for Indian Railways, regarding safety. "Within a short period, Indian Railways has developed, tested and started deploying Automatic Train Protection System," the ministry had said recently.

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